When I bought my 4035 I financed it through Mahindra Finance. After reading your statement above, I got out my contract and read through it. I believe your statement that extra money goes towards principal only if you make "Triple your payment" is incorrect. If you make two payments in one month, you DO save something as you are taking payments off the back end of your loan. Their method of calculating any possible refund of unearned interest charges is a little vague, but you certainly would not end up paying more than you would have just made your payments according to your loan schedule.
What was your other option to taking the 3.99% financing with the rebate? The current financing deal was not in effect when I bought mine last month. But my dealer offered me three prices - a cash price, a 2.99% price for 84 months and a 0% for 72 months price. But the sales price increased with the length of the financing. I certainly knew this, because nothing is free, not even 0% financing. While my choice of the 0% financing for 72 months cost me more $$$ for the purchase price, ultimately it was going to be less than if I had taken the 84 month financing. Given the 0%, there is no incentive to pay it off early so I have nothing to worry about.
My word of advise to anyone who has a question about financing anything - a tractor, a car, a house - is to talk to the actual lender just like you did bzue207X. My Mahindra dealer was a nice enough guy, but he was certainly NOT a financial expert! I doubt that Mahindra is "failing to inform their dealer network" as much as it is a case of the dealers being experts in tractors and implements and parts and service. Like I said, they are not financial experts. (When my dealer could not answer a question for me about the required insurance coverage on my tractor, I called Mahindra, who gave me a contact in the company that actually underwrites their insurance. After a few minutes of talking with that person, I had the answers to my questions. But if I had relied on my dealer - or even the rep with Mahindra in Houston - I would have come away with incorrect information regarding the insurance.)